The view from............ Val d'Isere and the Espace Killy

A snowHead

Merry Christmas to my favourite snowHead thread and to it's author.

A snowHead

Merry Christmas to my favourite snowHead thread and to it's author.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

Frosty the Snowman, he must be your favourite, you even said it twice! Laughing

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Happy Christmas to you both. Enjoy the Champagne and Christmas Dinner.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

Merry Christmas Steve and Clare!

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Have a great Christmas and thanks for your reports.

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Merry Christmas from the pistes of Val from Clare and Steve!!!!!!

Don't go off piste though!!!! Drink champagne and eat food and be safe - much better for you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

After all it is free

Happy Christmas Clare and Steve Very Happy

Fabulous photo of you both! Merry Christmas! This is one of my favourite threads too. Very Happy

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Happy Christmas to two istd's Enjoy Smile

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That was a change!

After a couple of days of warmer and more spring like weather it was certainly different day today!

We had the best part of a foot of snow overnight at altitude and 10cm plus down in town!

The clouds had rolled in and it was certainly flat / white-out weather first thing up top...... there was also a blustery stiff wind blowing and they had to close the 'up and over' lift due to the wind.

By mid morning it was starting to brighten up and by the end of the day it was actually quite bright but the temperature today has certainly reminded us all that we are in the middle of Winter and Spring is most definitely not here yet.

The guys this morning skied really well given the weather and snow conditions and little CC did really well in the cold this afternoon but by the end (being 4 years old) she got a little too cold and there was a tear or two..... nothing that another hot choc back at the chalet won't sort out.

So I think I have just about gotten over the indigestion and excesses of Xmas today - a few more mince pies and turkey sandwiches to go and it will be back to the diet.

Forgot to post this photo taken yesterday of the wonderful Blue Note lunchtime drinks and nibbles which were a lot of fun.

Take care folks.... more snow forecast tomorrow....

snow reports

17 days and counting ....

DISGUSTING!

The weather today started OK and got steadily worse and worse. First thing this morning at the top of the Olympic it was actually not too bad - it had started snowing about 7am so apart from flat light it was a nice cushion of snow to ski on. Leyla and Justin did will given the conditions it must be said and Leyla is gaining more and more in confidence which is great to see!!!!!! We tried our luck going up the Tommeuse once but it was obvious that conditions were only getting worse so we spent most of the morning lapping around on the pistes down to La Daille and the snow and conditions were great....... even it was a little bit busy on the pistes as everyone had the same idea!

By lunchtime the link to Tignes was closed and then by later in the day most of the higher lifts were closed including the Solaise Express. All the time the intensity of snowfall and wind was growing greater and greater. I was a little bit of a wimp as I only got my camera out in the confines of the Folie Douce to take a picture out the window as I did not fancy doing it outside..... but you get the idea of what it was like there mid morning!

By the end of the day the air temperature was quite low but not low enough as there was definitely moisture in the air so it was damp snow to say the least. This is great for the base and the snowflakes are large but powder days that follow storms like this are normally hard going on the legs!

Outside now it is SNOWING REALLY HARD AND THE WIND IS IMMENSE....... if we get the 50cm of snow forecast overnight (as some forecasts are suggesting) then the pisteurs will have one heck of a job to do in the morning!

This afternoon CC could only manage an hour and a half until she felt quite soggy and miserable so I got home in good time today!

My big bee in my bonnet today (and if you know me well I really can sometimes get a bee in my bonnet) was with the Club des Sport / ESF here in Val (and I am sure it is the same in many places!). The problem was / is that they have few manors and think they own the place so are quite happy to push in and generally by difficult and rude to be around! So the queue for the (very busy given the conditions) La Daille bubble was big this morning (until they closed it cause of the wind). There was a race on and it was quite apparent that the powers that be think that it is OK to let the kids push in and generally act like a rabble! In 10 - 20 years time, with the global improvements in service in the ski community the French MUST realise that they need to change their attitudes..... there were several English voices I heard / saw in the queue today who were having choice words..... when will the French and the Europeans learn that they need to improve in order to keep up with their North American (amongst others) counterparts! Sorry folks needed to get that off my chest and of course I am being a little generalistic but it does annoy (AND EMBARRASS) me.

Anyway folks hope everyone is well!

You know it makes sense.

Steve you know of my experience from last year (Don't want to go into detail on here), but your totally right. People need to realise we're customers and deserve to be treated as such.
As the economy improves (hope) more cheap flights appear across the pond the lure of first class service, more reliable snow etc people will walk. Look at Eastern Europe I think we're on the verge of more and more great resorts Opening look at Sochi it looks great and I'm sure that's the tip of the iceberg. The Russians etc. have money burning holes in there pockets and want to invest it.!

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THEY ARE BLASTING LIKE CRAZY THIS MORNING!

The winds have died down, and the snowfall lightened but it was pretty crazy weather last night...... the weather stations registered a maximum of nearly 70mph yesterday so there will be a lot of avalanche control work to be done this morning with all that snow floating around!

The road to Fornet is closed to pedestrians and 4X4 with snow tires or all cars with chains is the rule of the road this morning!

....on the plus side the leisure centre had its busiest day ever yesterday (1334 visitors!).

The weather is supposed to clear up for the next few days so fingers crossed.

Take care.

A snowHead

A snowHead

ajrduff, he's talking about the race clubs, who very much of the opinion they own the mountain. The regular punters are generally OK, (Italians are worse than French, with Parisians worse than anyone) in my experience. Depends on when you go. I'm out on the 6th Jan and don't anticipate any queues anywhere (Olympic cable first thing the possible exception). If I see a ski club race going on I leave the area, not worth the hassle.

FYI, the biggest arguments I've seen, and been involved in, have been with british boarders.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

Dr John, If they were getting ready for the races this weekend in Val d'Isere they could have been a Parisian race club.

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ajrduff / Dr John / rjs

Yes in this example it was the club des sport but the sentiment applies to the general management (sometimes) of the lift queues..... Indeed I have taught 6 seasons between Canada, USA and New Zealand (well 7 if you include a short stint teaching in OZ) and in all those places lift queues are well managed. Some might say it is the European way of doing things and Val and Tignes are better than others at organising queues for sure but there is no harm in raising standards! ANYWAY ENOUGH SAID!

So it turned into a nice day weatherwise but they worked very hard on the PIDA this morning and through til lunchtime.

At one point I was looking up the Borsat lift from near the bottom of the Marmottes lift as they set a charge off..... I could see from that far away the North facing slope that is just to the right as you look right at the top of the Borsat lift..... the whole thing went and slide down and across the piste below (which was obviously shut!)...... a lot of snow to move!

They were very calculating in opening lifts and runs this morning as there was a lot of instability.... we were on the Tommeuse virtually first up and you could see how much movement there had been...

... you can see the whole of that first pitch up from the bottom had slide almost down to the bottom of the lift! Anyway within a couple of hundred of yards as you looked over to the right you could see people taking silly risks on the banks of the Famillial! Not so much dangerous but the lack of understanding of what was happening around them and WHERE they were.... for example people traversing one under the other....... someone sneaking further and further around the corner to the north facing slope which is pretty much the same pitch / orientation etc etc etc as the Tommeuse slide!

You can see the tracks in the sunnier part of the slope and further to the right the tracks move towards the pitch on the right where much greater danger lies!

The Aeroski was not running this morning even though the wind was minimal and Clare tells me that it was running this pm but was stationary with people in at for quite some time therefore hopefully there was not a problem with it!

The pistes were in GREAT condition today and the fresh snow left us with some moguls to negotiate this pm but generally this was a small price to pay for a wonderful days skiing!

Julian and Leyla skied really well this PM and CC kicked but this afternoon in the sun and can now follow me pretty well down green runs (just about) - so progress all round!

We are going round to our friends (Gav and Lou's) for a second Xmas dinner (we had been due to be there for Xmas dinner last week but family commitments there end meant we had to postpone a week - still im excited!) this evening which will be lovely.

The only puzzling thing about today happened right at the end when I saw the PGHM chopper flying over Val - that is usually a bad sign of a serious accident / death but despite me checking all my sources I have not heard anything! Fingers crossed!

So the weather should stay good for the next few days - happy travels those coming tomorrow and au revoir those off home tomorrow!

Cheers,

Steve

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

Looks like it is gonna be a lovely day up the mountain.... clear skies and no wind. Our guests are here for 2 weeks so no transfer today - full days teaching instead. Anyway thought id share this little video with you from Radio Val d'Isere that shows what is and has been happening this week. Hope the link works!

http://www.webtvvaldisere.com/popup-pod.php?id=1952
[img]http://www.webtvvaldisere.com/popup-pod.php?id=1952[/img]

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WHAT A LOVELY DAY!

It was sunny and when the sun made its way high enough into the sky it was moderately warm!

It was wall to wall sun all day and should continue like that for most of the next day or two.

I was glad I was not on the road today as they were expecting some 38000 vehicles on the road!

A very nice way to finish the week skiing with Julian and the kids....... we had a lot of fun today.

It was my first trip on the up and over lift this season, the views from the top were awesome. It had been a late opening as they were doing some final avalanche clearance from the top and a lot of snow had come down so they had to do work getting all that dealt with.

You can see the lifties working on the top in the middle of the picture.

The pistes were pretty quiet today although everyone (little by little) got the same idea and headed up to the Fornet.

We stopped at the restaurant the bottom of the Cascades chairlift and they have finally finished it - HURRAY!

CC skied very well this pm and her new game is to ski backwards down little inclines and then expect me to push her back up again...... well it kept her entertained for a little while anyway. When we stopped for the afternoon drinks there was quite a queue at the Ouillette restaurant and by the time I got back to the table she had fallen asleep - bless!

A nice takeaway from the new Phat Frog restaurant in town (owned by the infamous Gumby) - Sushi for Clare and caramelised porc for me - YUMMY - highly recommended!

Back on the skiing again tomorrow at 9.

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Steve Angus, I watched the video on your website with you and Clare on it, showing the level you instruct to. Great video, you are both wonderful to watch.

I'm missing Val already!

We went to Le Grande Ourse last week, it was very nice. What's your favourite restaurant? I know you've mentioned it before but I can't remember.

After all it is free

Hey Piccadilly - yea I bet you are missing it...... glad you liked the videos - thanks..... we have loads of videos if you search for 'steveangus.com' as a search term in youtube! The Grand Ourse is pretty special ehh!!!!!! Our favourite restaurants in town are the Lodge, Bistro des Cimes and Taverne d'Alsace but there are lots of good restaurants (some very expensive though) in Val!

ANYWAY TODAY WAS GORGEOUS...

I had a jolly good skier to teach this morning..... for those BASI'iods out there he was gripping before the fall line on the Face which is RARE to see in anyone if they are not an instructor! We worked on some shorts stuff and then on some carving..... it was a full on morning. This afternoon was a total change in pace... as I had a lovely lady (English but lives in Spain) and I was just working on her confidence as her well meaning friend had scared her on the Madeleine yesterday..... se we put her back together and she had a whale of a time.

The Ouilette restaurant was rocking this afternoon and in this sun it was magic....

When the sun went down this afternoon it good chilly pretty quickly!

Anyway I am going to have to be brief this evening as Clare and I are going around to a clients chalet for some drinks and nibbles - so better rush!

Weather forecast is for it to continue like this for a few more days and possibly a front bringing snow on Tuesday night into Wednesday! We shall see.

Au revoir.

P.S. Lift queues not TOO bad today given it was first full day of NY break week!

Grip before the fall line on the Face, sounds good. What basi level would that be? Just watched the basi vids on you tube I'm guessing solid 3 maybe early 4.
Dave and I are out in 12 days can't wait.

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Chris ski H Yea grip before the fall line on the face is level 3 territory going on 4 as you say but he had other issues that meant he would struggle to get his level 3 (at the moment). BUt given these other things we worked on I was still impressed he was able to work the skis effectively!

Yea 12 days and counting - im OP tomorrow Chris so will scout out some lines for us to ski - hee hee!

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What does that mean? No skidding at all? Would love to be even a fraction as good!

I only skied the bottom half of La Face last week and made a terrible job of it Sad

. I was gutted, I skied it really well (for me) 3 times top to bottom back in March. What a difference a few months make. Still, I will come back this March and try again.

I love to watch the expert skiers on it, they make it look so effortless.

Thanks for the restaurant tips Steve! I will look for your other vids.

snow reports

Piccadilly..... it basically means standing on the ski at the start of the turn, pressurising it to make it grip and as a result the tail follows the tip around an 's' shape arc...... the outcome is minimal / no skidding at all! (There are other things you need to do to eradicate skidding totally / maximise ski performance later in the turn but the 'set-up' to the turn is as described before).

Sure you'll nail the Face next time!

MORNING UPDATE. Cold and clear out there this morning - expecting 'same as, same as' today in the snow!

It was rather busy today....

First day of the NY break and everyone is finding their feet / their way / instructors staying close to home as they settle in with what their groups can and can't do etc etc etc meant that it was very busy on the usual suspects today (such as Olympique etc!).

Anyway this morning I have a lovely family that I had taught last year and we worked hard on short turns all morning up and down Le Face.

This afternoon I had a nice 17 year old las who is thinking about doing a gap course for his BASI 1 and 2 so I was working with him on his off piste technique....... I just was not in luck as when we got to the bottom of the Cascades lift up on the Val glacier it had technical probs so we could not get over the Col Pers or Pays Desert..... when we got up the Pyramid chair there was a tech problem with the Signal pomas so we had to wait there....... all in all lifts were not my friend today..... however we did manage a super descent down the Grand Vallon (which is very tracked out) - still amazes me how many people ski something like that with absolutely no off piste gear / knowledge at all! We also found some great snow in Sunny Bowl which really surprised me it has to be said!

Anyway we made the most of the afternoon.

Clare was with family friends and skied down to Brevieries and had a wonderful day and apparently ate a yummy lunch!

I had a weird day on my skis..... I started (embarrassingly) by slipping onto my back bottom getting off the bus at the RPDP and then coming down Le Face I was looking over my shoulder at my family this working and tripped myself up....... managed to get back up in a jiffy but still embarrassing....... So what could possibly happen next!

Anyway looking forward to a few drinks at Scott and Becky's tonight - we are having a mexican feast for 8 and then we shall probably hit Blue Note to see in the NY..... but as always I am not a fan of New Year - I find it such an anti-climax!

WELL THANKS EVERYONE FOR READING THIS IN 2012...... Here's to 2013 ............ it will be quite hard to beat 2012 what with the engagement and wedding, working / attending the Olympics, completing my PGCE course, my Dad's 90th, sisters 60th, mini-moon, atlantic sailing, Clare getting the Level 4 tech and Eurotest and completing the ISTD ..................... if the snow is good then 2013 could well prove me wrong!

HAPPY NEW YEAR

You know it makes sense.

Steve Angus, Happy New Year to you too! And thanks for your wonderful posts, such a joy to read. Very Happy

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Happy New tear to you both and to all the Snow Heads.

A snowHead

A snowHead

....thanks everyone....

Looking overcast this morning but no snow yet. The temperature is only -5 so virtually ideal temperature for snow to fall......... as it is supposed to do later on. The rest of the week still looks like sun, sun and more sun!

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

Happy New Year Steve Angus, looking forward to heading your way on Saturday - woohoo!!

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An alternative view of the Tignes NY celebrations.

WELL THAT IS THAT ALL OVER FOR ANOTHER YEAR..... and we continue

It stayed nice and sunny all day (virtually) and only in the last couple of hours have we seen a couple of snow flakes fall but really nothing of much interest so far.

It does look like it will be a fair bit warmer later in the week so I shall try and make the most of the nice cold snow we have and tomorrow afternoon I shall be off piste (by the looks of things) so hopefully I shall find some nice snow around the place!

Thanks to everyone that sent HNY messages BTW.

When we get to the second week in January we know that there is light at the end of the tunnel and the kids will soon be back at school and everything will calm down shortly!

Had a lovely meal last night with Scott and Becky and the gang but as we all get a year older we all get a little more jadded when it comes to celebrating midnight - but fun we had indeed!

Well done to Clare for undertaking her first torchlite descent of her instructor career this evening - the face was in great shape and I really enjoy doing the descent!

Anyway folks take care.... stay tuned for more updates tomorrow.

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trainee snowboard jedi

Laughing

Ill see what I can rustle up for the weekend - thanks for packing my boots.... the car awaits. Should be great conditions for you.

Take care.

Steve

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Happy New Year Steve and Clare!

Thanks for my favourite thread on Snowheads x

After all it is free

Piccadilly Thanks very much wink

Looks like we have another 5-10cm of snow in town overnight but looks overcast out there this morning but it should clear up nicely (according to the weather forecast and my weather station - fingers crossed).

Happy New Year Steve Angus and Clare.
Great reading your daily reports. Even though I am not coming to the Espace Killy this year, they help build up the anticipation for the trips elsewhere. Thanks.

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32 days and counting for us. Keep the reports coming!

Help!!

The view from............ Val d'Isere and the Espace Killy

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